Comparison Sites Warning

NatFeerick

dunstonh - your manner from the outset has been high-handed and offensive. I have written evidence to support everything I have said in this thread. None of it is misinformation and your contributions to this thread are unhelpful and not in the spirit I originally intended. I once again suggest you go to a different thread - or better still start one of your own - THEN you can set the tone.

rudekid48

Stepping gingerly into the ring.............................

You are both right AND you are both wrong!! Dunstonh is correct that it is not a full on credit check that is performed, it is a lighter footprint, that does show up on your history but is ignored by full credit checks/searches. For ease, let's call this approach a 'credit tickle'.

The OP is also correct that a number of Insurers do perform these at quotation stage (off the top of my head, RSA, More Than, NU and a few others) on comparison sites. One of the reasons that they do this 'tickle' is to get an indication of the profile of the proposer to determine if they are prepared to offer instalment terms with their quote. There are also some that will use it as a rating factor (I am sure that someone on here from an Underwriting background can shed more light). There are other, older threads on here about the same thing and some people posted up definitive wordings on the type of search, but to be honest I'm not going to bother trawling round for them as I'm sending this from a mobile!

dunstonh

I have written evidence to support everything I have said in this thread.

Yet the written evidence on the confused website and experian website contradicts what you say.

your contributions to this thread are unhelpful and not in the spirit I originally intended.

Just because I dont agree with you and the evidence doesnt support what you saying doesnt mean you can say what you like unchallenged.

I once again suggest you go to a different thread - or better still start one of your own

Its a public forum to discuss issues raised. It is not a forum for posting your opinion and having everyone agree with you when you are wrong. You have posted your opinion and stated it as fact. Yet the real facts dont support what you are saying. I see nothing wrong with the posts I have made as I have not been abusive or rude. I have challenged your opinion and you dont appear to like that. I have supplied evidence (in the forms of copy and paste from the sites involved) yet you have provided nothing. I do admit that I don't believe you have the evidence you say you have regarding credit checks but I am willing to see what you have as what you claim doesnt seem logical and it would be interesting to know. I fear terminology is the biggest issue here and you are mixing up credit checks with money laundering ID checks which as I have stated are two different things but both use the same system. Not helped by Confused.com incorrectly referring to them as credit checks.

NatFeerick

Thanks rudekid48 (actually not at all rude!) I actually never said a full on credit check, I said some of the companies may search your credit record and that leaves a footprint. I like your term 'credit-tickle'! It's a long time since I worked in personal lines underwriting, so I'm not sure how identifying what financial comittments a person has should have any bearing on their car or home insurance risk. As for installments, I never pay by installments so don't require insurers to offer terms - I have a feeling some of the comparison sites include this as a question, if they don't they easily could which would theoretically negate the need for profiling the user's credit history, if that's the general reason they do it. Will check out other threads rudekid48 - thanks for braving this one ;-)

NatFeerick

dunstonh....I don't have to prove I have the evidence I say I have and I really don't care if you don't believe me...for contradiction, see your own posts!

dunstonh

I actually never said a full on credit check, I said some of the companies may search your credit record and that leaves a footprint.

You said in post #3 "It isn't clear on the comparison sites that you will be credit checked and it should be."

An electronic money laundering check is not a credit check. It does not show them any detail about your credit and is not a credit check. In fact, the data returned in electronic money laundering checks gives very little personal data. Here are the things the provider will see. (based on Experian who are the biggest provider in this area)

1 - name and address (these need to be input by the firm anyway so thats only giving back what you typed in to begin with)
2 -ID index score (not credit score but identification score)
3 - number of IDs that are good for address and ID, ID only and address only
4 - If you are on the electoral roll and how long
5 - if you credit file is good for ID, address only or both.
6 - if the application database is good for ID, address only or both
7 - if the home tel is on your name
8 - CIFAS indicators
9 - reason/warning codes
10 - check reference number

So, you can see that there is no personal data there other than what the firm already knows and a summary of how many identifiers there are in different areas and if any fraud codes are recorded. It does not identify specific financial commitments like a full check would.

Confused.com are wrong to refer to it as a credit check on their website as that isnt what it is known as. Especially as the following paragraph on their site goes on to talk about real credit checks. They also refer to loans and mortgages as financial products which is a bit daft as that could mean anything in financial services and someone buying investments could consider their product a financial product.

NatFeerick

Yup....still missing the point.....

Andy_Ches

NatFeerick wrote: »

Yup....still missing the point.....

I applied for Car Insurance quotes last year using a Car Comparison site and the search carried out was not an identity search.

It shows as 'INSURANCE' which is still listed under the credit searches section of my credit file, but doesn't count as a credit search.

elektra

Dunstonh

What is your view of why a footprint is left ? What purpose does it serve for future credit checks ?

I probably do lots of Insurance searches - initially to get a ball park then closer to the time tweaking the options.

dunstonh

What is your view of why a footprint is left ?

All enquiries leave a footprint. Think of it as audit trail so you can see if someone has accessed data (even if they have been shown detail) on your file. Whether its the basic ID check, the money laundering check or the full check. Its just modern disclosure. Firms that use these systems have to have a suitable data protection paragraph and disclosure in their terms of business or site terms and conditions. So, its only fair back to the consumer to see which firms are using it. That said, I dont think it was always the case in the earlier years. I was an early adopter of the electronic ID system and when there was an issue, you used to phone Experian and ended up having to tell the person on the phone there what service you were using and explain what it did as they wouldnt know as it was so new. Like so many others, they would automatically assume you meant the credit checks and not the ID checks. You had to point them to their own website for them to see if for themselves. Its better now but it was awful in the early days.

I probably do lots of Insurance searches - initially to get a ball park then closer to the time tweaking the options.

You will find the vast majority dont check until application or when they know you are close to application (depending on when you buy). However, the system does report back to the user when there have been mutliple checks in quick succession. Also, if there is inconsistent data being posted it can work against you as errors in data reduce your score and can also put you in to a position where a money laundering report notification is made.

Its not just on buying you can be checked now either. If you have maturing investments or pensions, revised rules on money laundering require maturities to be money laundering checked. A lot of the insurance companies use the electronic method for these now. I use them a lot on pension business and placing investments. Indeed, you can often find a double check when using a broker or adviser as the adviser may make a check and the provider as well.

So, quantity is not likely to be an issue then but accuracy of data is. Which really brings me to the bit that "worries" me and why I am looking for clarification in that people are often told to use fake telephone numbers of certain details on comparison sites. If these sites are making the checks at quote stage, as is being claimed, then that fake data could impact on the data held that is used to make future checks.